Summertime 2016 and a planning a getaway to Krabi, Thailand

China came and went - twice - but back to that later.  Lots to tell about Beijing and Shanghai.

Now, at the end of the summer, we are planning a last minute getaway to Krabi...

I have come to learn a few things about myself and how I plan for and enjoy travel.  Firstly, I am generally a last minute planner.  I'll think, research, email hotels, read blogs, figure out almost everything, plan on how many days of work to take off, but that final click, the final 'submit', well it takes a while.

I have also come to learn that I really enjoy the anticipation of a trip.  Ironic since, due to my aforementioned proacrastination, the actual anticipation period is generally quite short.  Like the latest getaway - we finally last night booked the flight for a long weekend in Krabi, Thailand - leaving three days from now. We were debating and debating - should we go away?  Should we spend the money?  (not at all a lot of money for a few days at a beautiful Thai beach but still).  Then, about to click the submit button and I googled the weather.  Oh no, it's all clouds.  Should we say forget it?

The thing is, and most people living in Singapore will agree with this, Singapore is a nice life but it's a small place, and once in a while most people need a change of scenery.  This is our third summer here, and it's a strange summer for us as a family. Why?  Because we are considering leaving Singapore.  As a matter of fact we thought that might happen this very summer.  Hence we did not plan on visiting family as we have done the past 2 summers.  So for the whole 9 weeks so far we have been here doing a whole lotta nothing.  My work has been unusually flexible which is much appreciated, so I have been able to work from home often, keeping 'half an eye' on my three kids.  The kids did not go to any type of camp - they were home, playing, a few lessons here and there (tennis/piano) at the condo.  Luckily we live in a condo with lots of kids so they go down on their own and play or arrange playdates with multiple kids at anyone's apartment.  According to most people I know, at least in the U.S., the kids had too much 'down time', too much video game time, too much tv time..... but for me it was a no-brainer.  Day camps are 500-700 dollars per week per child here, and on top of that the kids didn't want to go, so that was an easy decision.  And the best thing of all that I discovered is that my kids really like to play with each other.  Especially the 7 and 9-year-olds.  Maybe that won't last forever, so I'll enjoy it while it does.  Also for the past years I have been working full time and dealing with a long commute.  For over two years I left the house every morning before the kids woke up and didn't even see them before they went to school.  So to be able to be around, have them around, nobody rushing anywhere and just be with them has been really nice.

That's enough about the strange summer - back to Krabi.  It's a close, inexpensive flight.  Less than 2 hours and just over US$100 round trip per person.  We went to Phuket last year, which was beautiful, and everyone says Krabi beach is even more gorgeous.  Next issue was hotel - we learned from our last trip to Thailand that basically we stay at the beach and the hotel.  So the stretch of beach is important.  Krabi beach is all really pretty but the most special beach is one called Railay.  It is surrounded by limestone formations so the only way to get to this part of the beach is by longtail boat.  After several conversations we decided to stay at Railay beach.  The hotel is not as fancy as the one we would have gone to on the other beach but it seems up our alley.  As for the weather, well we'll be right there on the beach so even if it's cloudy, once the rain stops we can just go out and enjoy the beach.  My 13-year-old son said we need to bring rain survival kits, so today we went to the library to stock up on books.

We will be staying at the Sand Sea Resort on Railay's west beach (the 'good beach').  Not the fanciest hotel but great location and, most importantly, they will allow our family of five in one room. We pay for 2 extra beds but that's much more reasonable than getting 2 rooms which was the case at other hotels I contacted.  The other hotel we considered was the Amari Vogue.  It looks great but it's not on Railay beach.  I would have done 2 nights and 2 nights but that was quickly outvoted in my household.  Oh well.

No pix yet - I plan to have some really nice ones after the weekend.
And plan to come back relaxed and refreshed after daily cheap thai massages.  Let's see how it goes.